


Cuties and Candles

by brookester27



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 05:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3369122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brookester27/pseuds/brookester27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU in which Laura works at Bath & Body Works and Carmilla is especially picky about her scented candles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cuties and Candles

Laura hated working retail. Absolutely despised it.

The customers just had to rummage through every single shelf and completely mess up the entire display, leaving Laura to straighten up their wake of utter destruction. Well, maybe not destruction per se, but considering Laura worked at Bath & Body Works and shopping usually meant smelling every single item, then ultimately there was a lot of straightening up to do.

It was a particularly tiring day for Laura, filled with rearranging numerous shelves and restocking the bath bomb section (she was particularly wary of the people who wandered in that direction ever since she was confronted and asked about ‘the aesthetic of the bath bomb’). The headache that pounded behind her eyes (which was most likely caused from an exceptionally finicky customer that seemingly went through every display earlier in the day) only seemed to grow worse by the minute and, quite frankly, her nose hurt from smelling the newly installed candle section of the store. The new fragrances there seemed to be quite a hit for the more indecisive customers, who decided that Laura would make a great guinea pig for sniffing nearly every single candlestick and giving them her ‘honest’ opinion.

Finally, it was nearly a half hour until closing time, and the little shop was completely devoid of all customers. Laura very nearly threw herself into an empty stool behind the check-out counter, but instead settled for slumping against the wall, her body barely managing to stay perched atop the stool. Her co-worker, LaFontaine, turned to shoot her a smirk from their leaning position against the cash register.

“Woah there, L. You alright?” LaFontaine asked, not at all sounding sympathetic in the least.

“No.” The tiny woman scrunched her face. “I’ve got, quite possibly, the absolute worst headache in the history of all mankind, my nose feels like it’s about to fall right off my face, and I haven’t had an ounce of sugar in -” she glanced at the clunky, old clock hanging on the wall “- six hours.”

LaFontaine rolled their eyes and miraculously produced a Snickers bar from some seemingly hidden pocket in their vest. They tossed it at Laura’s head. “Just take it. You’re not you when you’re hungry.”

“LaF, I swear to all the gods I’ve ever heard of, if you make that joke one more time, I’ll tell Perry about the time you were so drunk that you nearly got a tramp stamp of her face.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Try me.”

“Hey.” The two looked up to see Danny poking her head out from the storage room. “Are you two bickering over LaF’s poor tattoo decisions again?”

LaFontaine let out a less than dignified snort. “Oh, don’t you even start about me. You’re the one who wanted a whole leg sleeve last year!” Danny’s face flushed nearly as red as her hair. “Can you even imagine how much money that would have cost? You have giraffes for legs!” LaF’s eyes widened, almost as if she had reminded herself of something. “Speaking of -”

“For the last time, LaF, no probing.” Danny disappeared back into the storage room in a futile attempt to escape.

LaFontaine hopped after her. “Oh, come on! Just a few minimally invasive probing procedures won’t do too much damage. Besides, Kirsch let me do it to him and he’s just fine!”

Laura sighed and slumped even further against the wall, if that was even possible. She didn’t think she could last the remaining half hour that remained until closing time. At least she had a Snickers bar to hold her over until then. She had only taken a single bite of the candy bar when the bell attached to the front door suddenly rang, signalling the entrance of a late-night customer (who even goes out shopping at ten?).

Laura had to resist the urge to roll her eyes and groan. She stood, tucked the candy bar into her back pocket, and trudged to the front of the store to (hopefully) help their little shopping trip move along as fast as possible. Only, this girl was absolutely gorgeous - and Laura was only seeing her from behind. Oh dear.

The girl turned around, a smirk curving her lips and seduction eyes already working their magic. Laura allowed her eyes to admire the curve-hugging leather pants, how her red flannel hung off her shoulders in just the right way, and that winged eyeliner - okay, wow.

“You like what you see, Cupcake?”

Laura shook herself out of it, much like you would see a cartoon character do. She could feel her face growing hotter with every second that passed. “Uh, no, nope - well, yes, but that - uh-”

The girl interrupted Laura with a throaty chuckle before turning back around to browse the candles, allowing Laura the time to sort herself out. “No need to give yourself a conniption, Cutie.” She grabbed a random candle off the shelf. “What does this even smell like?”

Laura quickly read the label. “Uhm, Limoncello.”

“Well, I can read, Cutie. But what does it smell like? What the fuck is a limoncello exactly?” She placed the candle back where she found it (Laura found herself relaxing just a teeny bit about that) and grabbed another one. “And this one, Love and Sunshine? Where do they get the smell for that?”

“Uh, well-”

The girl waved her hand. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. They’re as pointless as Edmund Husserl.”

And then the girl grabbed a different, and apparently acceptable, candle - this one Black Teakwood - and walked across the store to the lotion and perfume, her black curls swinging along behind her. Laura shuffled along after her (after straightening up the shelf a bit, of course), despite the girl’s obvious disdain for straightening up after herself. When Laura followed the girl’s same path, she came to discover that the display of body wash was nearly decimated, several bottles littering the floor - how had she not heard that happen?

“That bunched up face you make when you’re angry is hilarious, Buttercup,” the girl drawled. She was leaning against the perfume shelf, finger lazily tracing the edge of various plastic bottles. And very nearly knocking them off the shelf in the process. She picked up one of the sample bottles and quickly squirted it onto her shoulder. A coquettish grin graced her lips this time as she slowly stepped into Laura’s personal space. “Tell me, Cutie, does this perfume suit me?”

The perfume did nothing to mask her natural scent, which smelled a bit like pine with a hint of lavender, maybe. “Uh, well, y-yes, but I suppose everything suits you,” Laura replied, very nearly grimacing at herself. She managed to restrain herself, however, when the girl chuckled lowly and stepped away.

“Well then, Cutie, I think I’m done here.” She started on her way up to the cash register.

Laura’s retail side decided to kick in at that moment. “Did you find everything alright?”

“Oh, yes.” The girl’s eyes flickered up and down Laura’s body for a moment. “Even if I had better things to do.”

Laura tried to hide her blush by scanning the candle and perfume, and taking the credit card that was thrust out at her. She tugged the receipts out of the ancient printer and pointed out where a signature was needed, before leaning against the counter in an attempt to look totally-not-anxious. Once the girl had signed and put down the pen, she winked and turned on her boot-clad heel with a smooth “See you later, Cupcake” tossed over her shoulder. And then she was gone.

Laura frantically grabbed at the signed receipt and there, underneath the name Carmilla Karnstein written in flowing, loopy script, was a phone number.

 


End file.
